2018 - WAEC Literature Past Questions and Answers - page 2

11

Hamartia, in a literary work refers to a hero's_________

A
Tragic flaw
B
Inordinate ambition
C
strength of character
D
Good works
correct option: a

Hamartia is a personal error in a protagonist's personality, which brings about his tragic downfall in a tragedy. 

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12

Who lied in the chapel
Now lies in the Abbey

 

 The dominant device used is___________-

A
Paradox
B
Pun
C
Chiasmus
D
Zeugma
correct option: b

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. 

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.

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13

A short play perfomed during the pause between the acts of a longer play is____________-

A
An Interlude
B
An epilogue
C
A prologue
D
An interval
correct option: a

The definition of an interlude is a pause in something, such as a play, or is an intervening period of time in between two other things. A break in between your morning and afternoon work is an example of an interlude. An intermission between two acts of a play is an example of an interlude.

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14

Weeping Pilliow illustrates________

A
Dramatic Monologue
B
Pathetic Fallacy
C
Transferred epithet
D
Dramatic Irony
correct option: b

The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, or when rocks seem indifferent. 

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15

But the towering earth was tired of sitting in one position.
She moved suddenly and the houses crumbled, the mountains heaved horrible, and the work of a million years was lost

 

The predominant figure of speech in the extract is____________

A
Oxymoron
B
Personification
C
Contrast
D
Paradox
correct option: b

Personification is a form of figurative language in which something that is not human is given human characteristics. This device is often used in poetry to enhance the meaning and beauty of poems.

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16

But the towering earth was tired of sitting in one position.
She moved suddenly and the houses crumbled, the mountains heaved horrible, and the work of a million years was lost

 

The extract is about____________

A
An earthquake
B
A flood
C
An explosion
D
A storm
correct option: a
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17

But the towering earth was tired of sitting in one position.
She moved suddenly and the houses crumbled, the mountains heaved horrible, and the work of a million years was lost

 

The effect of the extract is conveyed through the use of___________

A
Antithesis
B
Parallelism
C
Conceit
D
Climax
correct option: d
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18

Beware her faintly failing health, and gentle gallands around her speed  Illustrates_________

A
Oxymoron
B
Alliteration
C
Synecdoche
D
Repetition
correct option: b

Alliteration is a literary device where two or more words in a phrase or line of poetry share the same beginning consonant sound. The words may be adjacent or separated by one or more words

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19

The eight-line part of a Petrarchan sonnet is the________________

A
Quatrain
B
Octave
C
Octameter
D
Quartet
correct option: b

The sonnet is split in two groups: the "octave" (of 8 lines) and the "sestet" (of 6 lines), for a total of 14 lines. The octave (the first 8 lines) typically introduces the theme or problem using a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA

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20

The metrical beat in the The Splendor falls on castle walls is___________

A
Anapaestic
B
Dactylic
C
Trochaic
D
Iambic
correct option: d

The "meter" of a poem just describes the pattern (if there is one) of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line—in other words, the rhythm of the words. "Iambic" describes one particular type of pattern that happens to be particularly common in English poetry. An iamb is a two-syllable pair, consisting of an unstressed syllable that's followed by a stressed syllable. (If you say "allow" out loud, you'll hear an iamb. It sounds like da-DUM.) 

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